Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure, on behalf of over one million Canadians of Scandinavian origin, to reintroduce this bill, which would designate October 9 as Leif Erikson day in Canada.

As we know, since 1964, October 9 has been designated Leif Erikson day in the United States. For those of us who are of Scandinavian, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish or Icelandic heritage, it is very important that our contributions be acknowledged to Canada as a whole. In my case, my mother's family came across from Fredrikstad, Norway.

I am pleased to say that this bill has received support from Scandinavian organizations across the length and breadth of our great nation, including in Burnaby, British Columbia, the Scandinavian centre. I hope the bill will receive the support of all members of Parliament and we will finally have Leif Erikson day in Canada on October 9.